


Two of us

by itsBlackLeader



Series: you and i have memories [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Established Relationship, M/M, i don't know what i'm doing but i hope you enjoy it, luke and din are old and gray here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:35:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28438482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsBlackLeader/pseuds/itsBlackLeader
Summary: “What are you doing ?” A quiet voice asks behind his back.Luke only responds with hums of contentment and a gentle tap on the grassy ground next to him.(Luke and Din enjoy a quiet evening.)
Relationships: Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker
Series: you and i have memories [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2083104
Comments: 7
Kudos: 152





	Two of us

**Author's Note:**

> this is the first part of a series. it stands as a sort of epilog to what is coming next.

“What are you doing ?” A quiet voice asks behind his back.

Luke only responds with hums of contentment and a gentle tap on the grassy ground next to him. 

There were very few things Luke loved more than this particular moment of the day, when finally the night sky became dark enough to clothes itself with tiny little beaming dots all across the black background. Over the course of his life, Luke had been the privileged witness of many events, quiet observer of hundreds of meetings and even more separations, watcher of oh so many disasters and moments of absolute elation. He couldn’t help but wonder - how many sun systems up there were inhabited, how many of them did he know and how many did he already visit, how many of them hid people he had, over the course of his life, briefly met and how many more sheltered people dear to his heart. 

Luke could feel the Force flowing through his veins like a wild river as he connects himself with all living things around him, and even then, his questions remain unanswered. The lack of answer didn’t bother Luke that much anymore. He thought of all the stories these star systems held, waiting up there to unfold to someone who would just listen and he smiled.

“What are you thinking ?” Din asks at last, after minutes of comfortable silence side by side. Both of them were at ease with each other's silence - they had learned a long time ago that their voices were just one of the many others ways to communicate with each other. 

Luke’s smile grows wider at Din’s interrogation and Din didn’t have to try too hard to know what was going on in the Jedi’s mind. The Mandalorian knew this gaze, and this frown, and what they meant. Luke knew, but it didn’t stop him from answering, “Just wondering where everyone is right now in the galaxy, and what they are all up to.”

“What do you mean ? _You_ don’t know ?” Din’s question is laced with amusement in his voice, “Can’t you use the force to spy on them ?”

Luke snorts loudly, nudging the other man in the ribs, grateful for the absence of Beskar which always came with the birth of the night and the safety of their home.

“Very funny Din.” His heart warms at their inside joke. In the wake of their budding relationship, Din became Han’s official partner in crime when it came down to make fun of the twins and their prowesses. Somehow, they seemed to always make more fun of Luke than Leia. He didn’t mind. Force, does he love the bond tying all of them together. The feeling of belonging fills him up and there is nowhere else he’d rather be.

“I miss them,” Din’s voice is a whisper for only him and Luke to hear. 

And then, something happens - Luke takes Din’s hand, caresses their skins together before finally twining their fingers together with an ease that could only come from years of doing that discrete motion. There was a time, now long gone, where that simple gesture would be considered by both of them as the epitome of intimacy. Sometimes, it still does. When their relationship was still young and when so many barriers seemed to have yet to be broken down between them, both of them could easily get drunk on this feeling of closeness. An unintentional yet tender movement or an intimate gaze held a second too long could easily have lit a fire worth of thousands suns. When Din confessed for the first time that Luke felt like the most luminous star in the sky, so bright he feared losing sight forever yet so entrancing to look away, an unspeakable feeling came over Luke. He couldn’t quite put words on it at first, not that he could do it now, but if he really had to, Luke would compare it to the warmth of the Force itself, washing over him in the brightest way possible. 

Luke had always strongly felt both sides of the Force fighting inside of him. Frightened by it at the beginning, he slowly learned to accept both sides in a perfect balance that made him the Jedi he is today. Though he couldn’t deny Din’s words of love had always made his head spin a little bit too fast, all he felt was the bright side of the Force and it made him feel like he could fly. Nevertheless, he was aware of the fact that darkness could easily take over the lightness he felt when with Din if something bad were to happen to him. Luke knew he could and would kill for Din, and that fact didn’t scare him anymore.

Loneliness was like an old friend to him when he left the sandy dunes of Tatooine behind, Luke had always been on his own. He welcomed the sense of belonging, friendship and camaraderie he experienced with Han and Chewie, he embraced the feeling of _Leia_ when reunited with her as if he found back a long-lost part of himself, but with Din… Luke could breathe again, live again, love again, be again, as if Luke’s life had just been half lived before Din. Of course, Luke didn’t need anyone to live his life fully, even so, it didn’t hurt if life could be made more colorful and bright. Luke had found his family, his clan. The Force buzzed with energy around him.

Tonight, their hands laced together in shared heat are the testimony of how far they’ve come. Years of shared memories, good and bad, are linked through their hands and the caressing motion of each other’s thumb over on the back of the other’s hand. It’s a shared burden they’ve been carrying together for as long as Luke can remember, it’s a whisper saying " _I know. I feel it too. I’m here for and with you. I’ll follow you wherever you go_ ".

Luke knows. " _Them_ " is a lot of different people, some he knows in his heart they will meet again and soon, some they won’t see before long if ever again, while the others are now one with the Force. His heart aches, but he feels the balance ; he can’t help but smile. A brush of warm and familiar lips against his temple wraps Luke up in softness. " _This is love_ ", he thinks to himself, his temple now resting on his companion's solid shoulder.

“I guess it’s one of those nights,” Luke says, glancing briefly in Din’s direction. Despite not seeing them, he knows those brown eyes are rich with joy yet still infused in sorrow as well. He suspects that his own eyes probably look the same, just a few shades cooler. These are the damages of the years, happy lives sewn with times of despair. Just like brightness can’t exist without darkness, heartache goes hand in hand with joy. 

Blowing in the wind, the leaves dance against each other in a faint symphony. It reminds Luke of his younger self, head full of dreams of tropical planets, watery lands, spaceships and endless starry nights as he watched Tatooine’s twin suns slowly kissing the horizon.

Luke hums again and Din says “We should go back inside,” to which his companion nods sleepily, refusing to let go of Din’s bare hand. 

______________

Luke had fallen asleep the moment his head touched the cushioned sofa, enveloped in the warmth of their little home. It was old fashioned and plain but still homey and they both liked it the way it was. It looked lived-in. Painted pictures and pieces of shiny armor were hanging on the walls, while weird looking potted plants were hanging from the ceiling, shelves overflowed with books and used rugs covered the floor. It isn’t much, but it is them.

Din smiles at the sight in front of him and gently snorts when Luke starts to shiver. He covers him with a wide pale blanket, a gift given to them years ago, dear to both their hearts. A gentle hand finds Luke’s hair, pulling it back in a swift motion, just long enough to allow the other man to spy on Luke’s sleeping face. 

Right there, on the floor next to the couch where Luke is now snoring, Din finds a pile of old paper documents carelessly stacked one upon the other. One proof more of how old fashioned they both are - or maybe is it proof of how sentimental they are, Din doesn’t really know. 

These days, droids take care of all sorts of communication. There are so many different means of communication these little robots can use to convey a message - a holorecording, a voice message, even a written text the robotic voice could translate in every language known in the galaxy. There is no need to write something down physically anymore. Din doesn’t remember a time when he ever needed to lay down something on paper before meeting Luke. And yet. It fascinated him at first, those written words Luke put down just for him. Suddenly holorecordings left Din an impersonal feeling compared to the warmth of handwritten notes. 

It was intimate and loving, receiving a note addressed to him and him alone, knowing nobody else would ever read it, knowing Luke carefully thought about it and took the time to write these sentences down just for him.

Bending to pick up the first piece of paper he found, Din smiles at the familiar handwriting. His eyes scan the words and he drinks them up, and drowns in them just like he did the very first time he read those notes. 

_Dear Din,_

_Grogu told me your name. I hope this letter finds you well. I know this form of …_

His gaze moves quickly from one sentence to another, from one word to the next one. He knows this note like the back of his hand and he remembers where to find the words he wants to read again, and again, and again. He can’t help but read between Luke’s lines, an art he finally mastered after years of practise. It was Luke’s first missive, the first of a list so long that he doesn’t really know how many there are. Already at that time he read it for the very first time, Din had the strange feeling that every time Luke mentioned Grogu, “ _and I_ ” went unsaid. 

_... to risk any message of mine falling in the wrong hands …_

_... Grogu’s safety. ..._

_... every month. Grogu can’t wait to see you again. He already improved …_

_… His progress is incredible, you would be proud. ..._

_... Please, think about it. Grogu would love it if…_

_Yours,_

_Luke Skywalker_

He smiles and rereads those few words once again, “ _Grogu (_ and I _) can’t wait to see you again. Grogu (_ and I _) would love it if_ ”...

Din breathes deeply, then sighs. He takes a look at Luke’s sleeping form once more, before diving head first in the whole stack of papers. There were so many of them, so many different notes relating to various times of their lives. Some of them were written by Luke, in fact, most of them were. Some were written by Din’s hand, while a few letters had been written by others Luke and Din had included in their secret communication game.

With shaking hands, Din takes a new note in hand, reads it then holds it close to his heart. 

“She’ll come back you know, sooner than you think,” Luke whispers half asleep, intently watching Din focusing on the piece of paper. Luke’s cybernetic hand slips in his graying hair, when he realizes he’s been lost in his thoughts. “Hey, where are you ?”

“I’m here”, Din assures, “And I know she will, doesn’t mean it gets easier every time she leaves. I know she has her own life, it’s just…”

“It’s just it wouldn’t hurt to have her around a little more, yeah.” Luke finishes Din’s thought, “I know the feeling.”

They both smile at each other, the tender motion of Luke caressing hand never stopping. For several moments, they just take comfort in each other’s presence, relishing in the simple fact that both of them were here, together. 

“You know what, you’re right. It’s one of those nights.” Din says, gets up and disappears through a door hiding Luke’s library. It doesn’t take him long before returning to Luke, nudging him to make room for him on the couch despite the fact that Luke refuses to sit up. 

“Oh wow, it definitely is,” Luke says, smiling. 

The book Din came back with is thick and it sits closed on his thighs. Luke finds refuge against the Mandalorian’s chest, who then puts his arm against Luke’s shoulder, just like he did not so long ago when they were still stargazing in the garden. 

“Do you want to take a trip down to memory lane with me ?” Din asks, even though he already knows the answer. 

Luke grins. 

“You know I would follow you to the end of the galaxy and beyond.”

Din turns open the worn out leather cover. They both relish in each other’s presence and settle in for the evening.

**Author's Note:**

> i apologise for any eventual error, english isn't my first language!
> 
> come shout with me about dinluke on tumblr, i'm [blackleader](https://blackleader.tumblr.com).


End file.
